


Bath Times and Cuddles

by Honey_Hearts



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Depression, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:27:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29525016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honey_Hearts/pseuds/Honey_Hearts
Summary: So I wrote this whenever I was feeling depressed, and wrote this over a few weeks. This was mainly to comfort me because Dave is a comfort character for me, especially when he's portrayed as soft. I know it's not the best writing, but I'm mainly posting this so that it might help even one other person the way it helped me. Also, there's a little bit of swearing, but there's some mentions of Karkat in here so you can't really expect there to be no swearing. Also some mentions of being naked but really, what do you expect from a fic with "Bath Times" in the title?
Relationships: Dave Strider/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Bath Times and Cuddles

A girl sat in her room, staring at her laptop. She had tons of unanswered messages, some asking if she wanted to go out places, some asking if she was okay, some just her friends needing to rant so they messaged her, hell, she even had one or two of her friends messaging her sounding like they though she died! She very well could be dead, and they'd never really know. None of then cared enough to check on her, well, with the exception of three of her friends. Or so she had thought. She was staring at her newest messages, from two of those three friends. Both messages basically said the same thing. They were fed up of trying to make sure she was okay but not getting anything in return for it, so they were done trying.  
"One left." She mutters to herself in the darkness, pulling her knees up to her chest. She didnt cry though. It hurt, of course it did, but she could tell it was coming, so she didnt cry. She had lost so many of her friends, she just wasn't as affected by it anymore. Her last friend messaged her, the ping coming from her computer echoing in the darkness.  
'Hey, I'm coming over in a little bit, I heard what happened.' She frowns slightly, looking down at her state. Wrinkled, dirty clothes, and she knew her hair was a knotted, oily mess. There wasn't enough time to shower, she knew 'a little bit' meant like 10 minutes or so. She sighs, leaning her head back on the side of her bed. She didnt want to have anyone over, she didnt have the energy to play hostess for even one person. She knew she couldnt change her friend's mind though, once he made a decision like this, he stuck to it. She sighed again and stared down at his message, staring at it for a few minutes before reaching down and typing back a simple response.  
'okay, you know where the key is.' She shut her laptop after that, sliding it under her bed and crawling up onto her bed. She curls up into a ball, squeezing her eyes shut, feeling more numb than ever. She retreats into her head, imagining scenarios of her in a better life, a happier her. She heard the door click open, then shut, and then footsteps up the stairs. She curls up tighter, pulling the covers almost completely over her head. She heard a knock on her bedroom door, him not coming in just yet. She sighed slightly and knocked back on the wall, her usual signal for him to come in. It had started as a joke of her knocking back on her door, back when she was happier, but now she was just too drained to get up to open the door and so she just knocked on the wall. She heard him open the door, closing it behind him, and walk over to her bed. The bed by her feet sunk down slightly, and a hand was placed on her side.  
"Hey, you okay? I head what the others did to you." Dave asks, looking down at her worried.  
"I'm fine." She answers, not looking up at him.  
"(Y/n), are you sure? Because it'd be completely understandable if-"  
"I'm fine, stop asking." She replies, cutting him off mid-sentence.  
"Okay, something's definitely up. What's wrong, you never cut me off." He gives her a knowing look, frowning slightly at her.  
"I dont know what's wrong, okay? I'm just... really tired." (Y/n) looks up at him, frowning. It took almost all of her remaining energy just to look up at him.  
He sighs softly, but doesn't reprimand her. "You need to come out of here at some point. Bro and I are worried, even if he doesnt show it."  
The girl shakes her head softly, curling up tighter. "What's the point? Nobody else cares, you'd be the only one to care if I went outside, and the darkness in here is inviting."  
"Honey please. I miss hanging out with you. I'm not even trying to be ironic or hide my emotions anymore, I just want you to be happy again. I just-!" Dave cries out softly, taking off his shades to look her in the eye.  
Honey looks up at him, meeting his gaze. "It's okay if you leave me too, you know. I'm just holding you back from being the social cool kid you've always been."  
Dave's look contorts to one of shock and disbelief. "No, it's not okay! What will happen to you then? You'll wither away to nothing here and for what? Me to go back to locking away all emotion?" Honey shifts after this, pulling her arm out from under the blanket to rest her hand on his.  
"It's okay. I understand. You can leave. They all do." She says softly, muttering the last sentence under her breath.  
"No, I'm not like everyone else. They must have all been fake then, because a real friend wouldn't leave you like this. Now come on, let's get you up and maybe showered, if you're feeling up to it." He held out his hand to help her up, and for a second, she sat there in surprise before gently setting her hand in his, allowing him to pull her up into a sitting position. "If you'd like, you can get your bathing suit on and hop in the shower and I'll help you with your hair since it's so knotted. Or you can just go naked, either works~"  
"I dont care, I dont really feel like finding my bathing suit, much less putting it on. It doesn't matter to me, what have I got to lose." She turns so her legs are dangling off the side of the bed. If Dave's shocked, he doesnt show it, probably out of habit.  
"Alright, then let's head over to the bathroom to get you cleaned up. You need to be presentable if we're gonna go outside." He says, pulling her so she's standing. She stumbles a little before catching her balance, leaning on Dave a bit for support. After getting used to her own weight, she starts to head to the bathroom, knowing there's no point in arguing with him. Once in the bathroom, she sits down while he starts the water.  
"Could you... make it a bath?" She mutters softly, hoping he heard her over the noise of the water. He nods in affirmation, plugging the drain once the water's at a good temperature. They sit in silence as the bath fills, neither talking or feeling the urge to talk until the bath is filled. (Y/n) opens her eyes at the sound of the water being turned off, having at some point during the silence closed them. She looks up at Dave as he turns to her.  
"I'll look away, let me know when you're in and I can turn back around." He says, waiting for her to give a small nod before turning to face the corner away from her and the mirror. She undressed somewhat quickly, not caring much if he saw of not, and slid into the bath. She gave a small sigh as she sunk into the warm water, feeling pretty relaxed.  
"I'm in now, you can turn around." She says softly, wincing slightly at the small echo in the room. Dave turns back to her, smiling slightly at her relaxed form. He was glad she at least wasnt so sad right now. He walks over, sitting on the toilet.  
"Do you want me to help you with your hair now, or do you wanna relax for a bit first?"  
"Now please? I'd like to get it over with." She murmurs softly. Dave slips off his shirt so he doesnt get water all over it and kneels by the edge of the tub, grabbing a brush on the way. She shifts so her hair is on the outside of the tub, the ends dripping slightly onto the rug. Dave starts to brush out the knots as gently as he could, still tugging slightly when he catches a knot. Once her hair's brushed out and free of big knots, he sets the brush on the toilet seat.  
"Go ahead and wet your hair now, okay?" Honey nods, shifting to lay back and dip her hair into the warm water. She sits back up with it sopping wet. "I'm gonna wash your hair now, okay?" After a small nod from (Y/n), Dave squirts some shampoo on his hand and starts to work it into her hair. She relaxes more at the feeling, causing Dave to smile a little.  
Once her head massage/shampooing is done, Dave grabs the cup on the side of the tub, using it to rinse the shampoo out. He uses his hand to block the soapy water from flowing into her face. He repeats the same thing with the conditioner, grabbing a wash rag from under the sink afterwards. He puts body wash on it before handing it to her. "You can wash your body on your own, right? I dont wanna just start washing it for you."  
(Y/n) nods, standing up immediately. Dave turns around quickly, chuckling slightly awkwardly. "Give me some warning first yo."  
"Sorry." She responds, taking the washcloth. She washes her body semi-quickly, not caring how well she did it. She plops back down into the tub, splashing water a bit out of the tub. "Done." She says simply. Dave turns back and sees water on his shirt chuckling slightly.  
"Well, that strategy didn't work very well. You know what? I vote today be pajama day. What do you think?" Dave says, grabbing the brush again to brush through her hair once more since it seemed to relax her before.  
"Mhm." She hums in agreement, enjoying the relaxing aura filling the bathroom. She sighs softly, feeling less numb than before. "Thank you." She murmurs, not really wanting to break the calming silence, but wanting to get her gratitude across to him.  
"Any time. If you're ever having a day worse than usual, you can message me and I'll come over. I love seeing you, even if it's just bath times or cuddles or both." Dave replies before finishing brushing through her hair again. "Do you wanna get out? I can pass you your towel and grab you some clothes while you dry off?" He suggests. (Y/n) nods in return, reaching over and unplugging the rub. Dave moved the towel to the top of the toilet lid, letting her know where it was before leaving for her room.  
(Y/n) stands up after all the water drained, grabbing the towel and drying herself off. She wrapped it around her when Dave knocked. She knocked against the wall in a half-hearted pattern. He came in, smiling a little before setting down her clothes. They were a tank top, pajama pants, fluffy socks, and a pair of bra and underwear. He turns to leave again before saying, "I'm going to make some food for us while you get dressed. Once you've finished, you could come join me downstairs or you can chill in your room and I'll bring the food up."  
She nods in return even though he can't see it, before reaching out to the toilet and grabbing his shirt. Cracking a small smile, she tosses it at him lightly, the wet spot landing on the crown of his head. He stops for a second, surprised, and (Y/n) starts to giggle softly before apologizing while trying to stifle it. He smiles, glad she's giggling at something, even if it is him, and assures her that he found it funny too and didnt mind her giggling at it. He closes the door fully, leaving her to get dressed.  
Once her giggling fit ended, she drops her towel and starts to get dressed. After getting dressed, she steps out of the bathroom only to get hit with a wall of cold air. She shivers and makes a beeline for her room for a hoodie. Once in her room and with a hoodie on, she starts to feel herself sinking back into her deep depressive mood from earlier. She fights the urge to lay down on her bed since she knows she won't get back up from it, and starts to head downstairs.  
At the foot of the stairs, she's met with the sound of cooking food and the smell of cheese. She heads to the kitchen to find Dave making grilled cheese and hops up to sit on the counter facing him.  
"So that's where my hoodie went." He playfully exclaims after glancing up at her.  
"I'm sorry, do you want it back?" She asks quickly, already starting to take off the hoodie to give it back to him.  
"No, no, you keep it. It looks better on you, and I doubt it will fit me anymore. It barely fit me last time I wore it. I could barely get my head out of the head hole." He chuckles while reminiscing about that time before turning back to the food. "Do you wanna watch a movie after we're done eating, or cuddle, or whatever? I'm free all day and want to spend my day with you, if you're up for it." He adds on the last part almost like an afterthought, not wanting to make her feel pressured into spending time with him. She hesitates for a moment, not wanting to burden him with dealing with her any longer.  
"I don't want you to have to deal with taking care of me any longer than you need to. Please, don't feel any need to stay here any longer than you have, I don't wanna burden you." She responds, speaking the truth in a dismissive tone, not looking at him.  
"You're not a burden to me, I enjoy spending time with you. If I found you a burden or didn't like spending time with you, I wouldn't be here, making you food after helping you get bathed, trust me." At this, (Y/n) nods, knowing he's being honest.  
"Alright, maybe we could watch a movie? I don't care which movie though, so you pick." She looks over at him for clues if she said the right thing or not. Dave puts the grilled cheese on plates and smirks at her.  
"Sweet. I'll raid your movies and pick the shittiest movie you have! If you dont have a shitty movie, I'll just pirate Shulk on my laptop."  
"Okay, I have one care about which movie. I've watched Shulk enough times to last a lifetime. Hell, Karkat and I have.. had..." She trails off, reminiscing about the times she spent with Karkat slowly making her sadder, and her mood starting to worsen. She presses the small smile from earlier back onto her face. "But it's up to you." Dave's smirk falls, hoping up to sit in the counter next to her and offering her a plate.  
"You know, Karkat wanted to come with me. He was trying to have a movie night with me, but I turned him down cause I wanted to hang with you. He said he was worried about you too." He offers up, looking over at (Y/n).  
"He probably only wanted to come just to make sure you left after doing the bare minimum. He wanted a movie night with you, after all." She mumbles, her smile falling again. This time, she let it go, knowing he had already seen through the fake smile. "I'm a shitty fucking friend, after all. And if pranksters dont deserve a friend like me, well, cool kids definitely don't." She picks at her grilled cheese, not having enough of an appetite to take a bite.  
"Woah woah woah, hold up. Shitty fucking friend? Not deserving a friend like you? Who fed you those lies?" He asks, genuine concern showing on his face for once. He had a pretty good idea of who said those things, but a part of him still didnt want to believe it.  
"It doesnt matter. They weren't wrong. All I'm good for is wasting people's time, effort, and food." She says, setting her plate off to the side. She slides off the counter, plopping down onto the couch corner and pulling her knees up to her chest. Dave jumps off the counter after placing his plate to the side. He follows her over to the couch, kneeling down and grabbing her hands once she sat down.  
"Hey hey, that's not true. I know it feels that way, but it's not true, especially with me. If anything, I've never deserved to be your friend. When you were still acting all happy and bubbly, whether it was truly how you felt or if it was an act, it always seemed like I wasnt worth the effort you put into making me smile. You even went as far as to try to appeal to the many layers of irony I talk about. And even when you started to spiral, you always made sure I was okay if I didnt seem like myself. It ment the world to me that you were there for me, and I still don't feel deserving of being your friend. But I've chosen to stuck around, because it seems like you smile more when I'm over and hanging out with you, and even if it's just during those times, it's a start towards you feeling better." He gave her a small smile, the Strider equivalent of a big or a reassuring smile. (Y/n) looked away, a small frown settling on her face.  
"You seemed lonely back then. Even surrounded by people, it seemed like they didnt want to get to know you, and made you feel lonely. So I made it my goal to make you smile at least once, and if I was really lucky, a laugh too. Too bad I spoiled all my work by falling into this funk." She mumbles back.  
"You didnt spoil anything. I promise. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be smiling more than a quick raise of the corners of my mouth, like I was taught. You know John, and Rose, and Jade, and everyone is grateful for how you helped me?"  
"Sure they are. And I'm Obama." (Y/n) responded sarcastically. She was a bit taken aback when Dave let out a small chuckle.  
"Obama man. He's the greatest. Wish he was still president. Why didn't you tell me you were a president? And my favorite president, on top of that! What other secrets you keeping from me, former president Obama?" (Y/n) let off a small snort of laughter from his rant, covering her mouth and nose immediately. Dave smiled as she started spouting off apologies, squeezing the top of her knee as he assured her that it was okay.  
"Karkat." She mumbles almost inaudibly after she had calmed from her apology spout.  
"Karkat? What- Oh. He's the one who told you those things?" Dave asks, cutting off his first train of thought once he realized what she meant. "Do you know why?"  
"I had a crush on John. Not that I was gonna do anything about it, I felt like he deserved better than me. Karkat seemed to feel the same. Both about crushing on John, and that he deserved someone better than me. I told him about my crush on John cause I trusted him and wanted to get it off my chest. He exploded into a rant that boiled down to me being a shitty friend for liking John when I knew he was flushed for John, and that John didn't deserve me as a friend, so why would I ever think he deserved me as a girlfriend. I was too sad and depressed for someone so happy and peppy and John." She spilled, feeling both better about talking about it, and worse for both burdening Dave with her problems and ratting Karkat out.  
"But you can't get mad at Karkat! And you can't tell him or John what I said! I don't want people mad at Karkat for saying the truth, and I don't want Karkat even madder at me for snitching on him."  
Dave frowned slightly, causing (Y/n) to get the wrong idea. "Shit, sorry, I knew burdening you with my problems wasn't right. You're not supposed to burden your friends." She would have spiraled into worse thoughts if Dave hadn't broken her ramblings and train of thought.  
"No, you're not burdening me, it just is a little upsetting that Karkat did something like that to you. But I won't tell him or John what you told me, I respect your wishes. Is that when you stopped talking to John?" Dave received a nod from that and a mumbled "He didn't deserve to have a bad friend like me."  
"John misses talking to you, you know. I could call him one time I come over, if you want? Or we could do it this time? It's up to you." He moved to sit down next to her, giving her enough space for her personal bubble, but close enough to hear when she mumbles. She shrugs in response.  
"He's probably busy, I wouldn't want to interrupt him. Besides, I don't want him to feel like he has to talk with me. But if you want to, go ahead, I might pop my head in to wave." Dave hesitated for a second before sending a text to John, asking if he was busy. John shot back a text a few seconds later, saying he wasn't really busy. When Dave asked about video calling, John agreed.  
For the first few minutes, they were catching up since the last time they talked, then John started to rant about his crush. Only at the end, did he mention a name.  
"I don't understand what I did! Why does he avoid me like the plague? Does Karkat just not like me?" John ranted, flopping down on his bed to show he was finished. (Y/n) chimed in, figuring she might as well be helpful.  
"He does like you. A lot, actually. I dont know why he's avoiding you, though." She mumbled, but it's obvious John heard it.  
"Did you say something Dave? Cause if so, the video's glitching." He asked, looking kinda confused. Dave shakes his head, and looks over at (Y/n), who repeats what she said before louder. John's confusion got more evident at this. "Dave, if you're not talking, who are you with then?"  
Dave gave (Y/n) a look, as if asking for permission to turn the camera to her. And nodded, and he turned it so John could see her. He wasn't expecting her to scoot closer so they were both in the camera though, so he ended up showing an empty couch.  
"Ha ha, very funny Dave. For real though, who are you with? Unless it's your imaginary girlfriend?" (Y/n) blushed a little at this, getting even more flustered when the camera was pointed at her and Dave, and she could see John clearly.  
"Hi?" She asked more that said, and gave a small wave. John's eyes seemed to light up, and his gasp is both audible and loud. This confused (Y/n), and her confusion only grew when John launched into a rant about how excited and happy he was to see her. He asked a ton of questions out of excitement, but didn't give her time to respond.  
"You're.... not mad?" She asked, which stopped John mid rant.  
"Mad? Of course I'm not mad! I'm glad to see you, and that you're okay! I was worried the worst had happened to you when you stopped responding to me."  
"Yeah, I'm okay, sorry to worry you. I just let some bad thoughts get the best of me, and then thought you were mad at me, so I didnt want to make you madder." She plastered a fake smile on her face, one that was convincing enough for John, but Dave knew that it was fake. The longer John was on the call for, the more Dave could tell it was getting harder for her to keep the fake smile.  
"Yo John, I know you're all excited to talk with her again, but we were about to watch a movie when you got brought into the conversation. So we're gonna watch the movie, I'll talk to you later dude." Dave bid farewell to John, and hung up once John bid farewell to them back. He looked over at (Y/n)as surprised to see her crying.  
"What's wrong?" He asked, lightly grabbing her face to wipe the tears away from her cheeks.  
"He, He doesn't hate me, me." She said between gasps of air. "He's not, not mad at me. I thought-" She let out a sob, cutting herself off. Dave pulls her to him in a hug, letting her just cry it out. She asked how and why many times, each met with him mumbling that John cared about her and wouldn't be mad over that. She calmed down after a few minutes, wiping at her eyes and cheeks to get rid of any remaining tears. She started to apologize, but Dave cut her off.  
"It's okay to cry, and especially so when you have someone with you who wants to help. Did calling John and crying help some?"  
"A little. But what about your shirt?" She asked, looking down at the wet spots from her tears.  
"Meh, it was wet before. It'll dry." He shrugged before grabbing her hands. "Do you still feel up for a movie? Or we could take a walk if you want? I'm down to do whatever will make you feel better."  
"Can we still watch something and cuddle?" She asked with a small smile. Dave nodded and gently pulled her towards the movie rack with him. Some short play arguements blossomed from this, causing both parties to smile, and even a small laugh from (Y/n). Once they eventually agreed on a movie, Dave brought their grilled cheeses over with a T.V tray and sat down in the middle of the couch. (Y/n) sat down next to him, and Dave silently offered for her to snuggle up next to him under his arm. She took the chance immediately, and he wrapped his arm around her. Once comfortable, he pressed play on the movie, squeezing (Y/n)'s arm a little.  
A bit under halfway through the movie, Dave glanced down and saw (Y/n) was asleep. He smiled and stayed in the position they were in until the movie was over. He layed her down gently on the couch, making sure not to wake her, before heading upstairs to her room. Since she was asleep, he figured he'd clean some things up for her. He gathered her laundry, changed her sheets, washed her laundry, and was halfway through washing the dirty dishes in the sink when (Y/n) finally started to wake up. 3 plates and a cup left is when she started to sit up. 2 plates left and she started to look around. Last plate and she saw him. All the dishes were done and drying while relief flooded her face.  
"I thought you might have left when I was asleep. I was afraid I was going to open my eyes and have all of this be a dream." She said, her voice a bit groggy.  
"Sorry, I just figured I'd do a few things to help you out while you were asleep. I didnt do much, just the dishes." At that moment, the dryer decided to beep. "And started washing your laundry. I was hoping that helping with some of the things that had been piling up would help you feel a little bit better, and maybe help start getting you back to feeling a bit less like there's too much to do." (Y/n) started to tear up again, smiling a bit this time.  
"Why are you so nice to me? I don't understand?" She asked him, wiping her eyes to clear them of the gathering tears.  
"Because you deserve all this and more." 'Because I love you. I think I've loved you since the first day you tried to make me smile and get to know me.' He knew it wasn't the right time to say those things just yet, that she wasn't in the right state mentally for him to confess. So he was willing to wait. As long as it took for her to start feeling like herself again, he'd wait. And he'd be there for her every step of the way. He walked over to her, hands dried now, and sat with his back against the arm of the chair and the wall.  
"C'mere, I won't leave this time. We can just cuddle until you feel ready to move from the cuddles." He held his arms open, gesturing for her to lay on him. She gladly took his offer, quickly crawling over to him and laying her head on his chest.  
"And if I never want to move from the cuddles?" (Y/n) asked him, jokingly.  
"Then we'll never stop cuddling." Dave responded, fully serious


End file.
